What Dreams Can Do
by Gemjj
Summary: Angelus proves to be a problem when Angel and Cordy think they get a happy ending. Watch out for Character Death
1. Dreaming

What Dreams Can Do

By Gem

Disclaimer: I don't own the show, so I satisfy my great need for Angel and Cordelia to be together through fanfiction.

Rating: Oh, I don't know… has some bad language… whatever (can you tell.. I'm tired).

Angel shot up in his bed, panting.

He found himself covered in sweat, which actually wasn't surprising considering what he had been dreaming about.

Slowly, as it sunk in what had happened, he lay back down, his head sinking into the soft pillow.

'I really thought those dreams had stopped – I mean, I haven't had one for a few days, which is the longest they've ever stopped for, but nooooo, I have to suffer these absolutely wonderful fucking dreams, but can't look Cordy in the eye,' he thought as he let his eyes close.

Angel had started having some very interesting dreams about his seer about a month ago – and considering that in them he and Cordelia were both very naked and very together, he had had trouble with talking to Cordelia without feeling his cheeks flame up. Which was silly, because although he felt the embarrassment, he knew really she couldn't tell… not by the colour of his cheeks anyhow.

"Why'd this have to happen to me?" He groaned out load.

"Please tell me, Dennis, 'cause I really wanna know!" Cordelia babbled to her ghost as she went around her kitchen making herself a sandwich.

In response, a glass of orange juice floated to her table right where she was heading with her sandwich.

"Do you realise just how hard it is to act normal around him these days? – And he must have guessed something's up because hello? He's started to avoid me, which I he thinks I don't know about but I do because it's sooo obvious – every time I walk into a room, he walks out of it! I must be doing something weird to make him wanna be someplace that is else, right?"

She took a bite of her sandwich, chewed and swallowed.

"And that stuff to relax me from the chemist – sooo not working! It was a complete rip off if you ask me! I have every right to go back and ask for a refund!"

Bite. Chew. Swallow.

"And these dreams have just got to stop because I'm telling you now, if they don't I'm gonna have to give up the whole sleeping thing because it's getting waaay embarrassing! – Not only has the vampire guy himself noticed and is subtly trying to avoid me, but Wes and Gunn have noticed how weird we are with each other – and that's my fault! Somehow my embarrassment is causing this tension between me and Angel, and the guys have defiantly picked up on it."

She sipped her orange juice. Then as she put in back down on the table, she gave it a quizzical look before frowning.

"And what the hell am I doing, anyhow? It's two in the morning and I'm eating a sandwich and drinking orange juice like it's flippin' lunch time! These dreams have totally thrown my daily routine out the window!"

"Sweets! What are you doing here at this time? – We're about to close any minute!" Lorne exclaimed as Angel sat himself down at the bar.

"I'm having trouble sleeping." Lorne frowned, "you are? – Because last I heard you were particularly enjoying sleepy time. What with the dreams and all."

"Y'know, I would act surprised about you mentioning all of that. But these days, I'm just going along with the fact that you know everything."

The Host just nodded.

"So…?"

"So what, Angelcakes?"

"So what are you gonna tell me about the dreams? – I mean, considering you know about them they have to something to do with the Powers, right? Otherwise how would you know whats going on inside my head?"

"I know, Sweets, so I can tell you all the important stuff when you need to know. – And no, the dreams aren't from the Powers, it's all you, Babe."

"So I'm having dreams of Cordy and me having sex because…?"

"Did you not just hear what I said?"

"I was having a dumb moment."

"Look, all I'm gonna say is that with a little bit more time this is gonna sort itself out. But for the record, I repeat, the dreams are all you."

Angel was replaying his chat with the Host they'd had the night before when Wesley slammed a book down on his desk.

"Right, that is it!" He exclaimed, as Gunn came up beside him.

"What's it?" Angel asked, confused.

"This morning. I was going over the last case one last time with you, and Cordelia comes in. So, as the scene goes now-a-days, you leave for your room. Then, you come in for coffee and when Gunn asks for you to stay and show him that move you did two nights ago, Cordy decides to rush out for lunch! – What the hell in God's name is going on?"

"Yeah, man. There's like all this tension between you guys," Gunn added.

Angel sighed, "guys, how about we talk about this later, huh? – When I've actually decided on what IS going on with me and Cordy."

Suddenly getting that Angel was as confused as they were, Gunn perched on his desk, "if you've done something in the past few weeks to make her mad, it would explain a lot?"

Angel shook his head, "look, guys, as I said, can we just leave it? I'm sure given a little time this will just sort itself out," he said, remembering the Host's words.

"OK, Angel. If that's what you think. I mean, you know Cordelia better than we do, and vice versa."

"You OK, Cordy? You look a little off colour," Gunn commented when Cordelia came back from her lunch, and Angel had disappeared off somewhere.

"I'm fine, Gunn. I've just been feeling a little up and down this past week."

"Because of the visions?" Wesley asked, concerned.

She gave him a look, "it's just a cold or something, Wes. I mean, it is possible that a person can get ill without visions, y'know!" She snapped.

Wesley knew he was treading dangerously by the tone of her voice, but still, he was concerned and wanted to make sure his friend was OK, "maybe you should have the day off tomorrow? I'm sure Angel wouldn't mind."

"Wes, I don't think that's necessary," she said wearily, … 'mind you, Cor, a day off would mean a whole day without flushing red whenever you accidentally bump into Mister-All-I-Ever-Do-Is-Brood'.

Gunn noticed she was contemplating it, "and then maybe you could go to the doctors and make sure it IS just a cold."

She eyed him up, "visiting the doctor makes taking a day off sooo much more tempting, Gunn," she said sarcastically.

There was a pause, before she added, "OK, I'll take the day off tomorrow, but," she glance of at Wesley, "since it was your suggestion, you can tell the big boss guy, K?"

"Yeah, whatever," Wesley managed with a grim face… though he didn't really think Angel would object, it was just that he could hear the vampire now… 'I'm the boss, Wesley, I'm the one who decides if someone should have a day off.

Unbeknownst to Wesley and Gunn, when Cordelia got home she called up the doctor's and made an appointment for herself the next morning.

"WHAT?!" Cordelia screeched as the doctor confirmed there was, in fact, something wrong with her other than a cold.

"I said that –"

"I heard what you said, you numskull! I just KNOW that is completely false! I mean, if I were – which I'm NOT – I would so know about it, a) because hello guy in bed with me! And b) because… because… - well I'd just KNOW!"

"Miss Chase –"

"Oh, don't you Miss Chase me, Mister! What kind of a wacko doctor are you anyways, huh?"

"Miss Chase, I suggest you not blame me for a mistake you made with some guy."

Cordy let out a little yell of anger, "I'm sooo out of that door!"

"Good day, Miss Chase."

"Oh, fuck you!"

Cordelia was fuming so much she just went on autopilot… straight to the office.

"Cordelia!" Wesley exclaimed as she marched in through the door.

Angel who had been sitting at his desk didn't even get the chance to get up and go hide in his room she came in so fast.

"What happened to your day off?" Gunn asked, surprised.

"My day off went out the window when I decided NEVER to take any advice either of you two give me!"

She looked accusingly between Wesley and Gunn. "I mean, so I decided, yeah, I'll go for a check-up at the doctors and do you know what that raving loony actually said to me!?"

"Not something bad, I hope," Wesley stood from his desk looking concerned.

"Yeah – for him! 'Cause I am sooo gonna sue!"

"What'd he say?" Angel asked, also standing.

Cordelia whirled around to see the vampire standing behind her, "Angel! … You're here… in the office." There was a beat, "I knew you were avoiding me! – The day I'm not here is like the first day in three weeks you decide to spend the day in the office!"

Angel was taken aback, "Um, well… I… I'm not avoiding YOU. I was just… Um… I was –"

Cordelia waved a hand at him briefly, "no time for your mumbling now, Angel. I'm telling the story about the evil doctor – hey, maybe he was a demon, 'cause only someone evil – like a demon – could be that cruel and shoot out complete lies like that!"

"So, what DID he say?"

"Oh, you are sooo not gonna believe this!"

"Cordy.." Angel said in his warning voice, translating into spit it out.

"Pregnant!" She said incredulously, "he said I'm pregnant!" She put her hand on her belly, "I don't look fat or anything! … Do I?"

"No! You're beautiful!" Angel answered immediately … 'did I say that out loud?'

"Well, Cordelia, if he was a doctor then maybe you are pregnant, because usually they're not wrong… about a woman being pregnant anyway," Wesley spoke up.

Cordelia was shaking her head, "I'm sure he's qualified and everything- whatever, Wesley. But there's NO way whatsoever he could be right about this so called pregnant woman."

"So you took protection, but Cor, that doesn't always work," Gunn put in.

"No, I don't mean THAT, Gunn. What I mean is –"

"- She can't be pregnant because the last time she had sex was with Wilson," Angel interrupted out of nowhere.

All three just stared at him, and when he finally tore his eyes away from Cordelia's and he noticed, all he could do was shrug, "vampire thing."

"Oh, that's all we need. A guy who has a sex radar," Gunn grunted.

"Hey! You know what? You could call it a laydar!" Cordelia suddenly said excited, earning the stare for herself. "Oh, don't give me that look guys, I'm pregnant, hormones everywhere, not thinking straight… apparently."


	2. Pregnant

What Dreams Can Do Part 2 

By Gem

Wesley had begun checking through books on the several demons that Cordy had been in contact with the last few weeks. It had been Angel's suggestion, he thought since Wilson had impregnated Cordy for the demon before – somehow working through the protection Cordelia had insisted they used – then maybe a demon's touch might be all that is needed for certain species.

Angel himself had disappeared to his room as was normal these past weeks, but Wesley guessed that if the vampire knew Gunn had taken Cordelia to be checked out at a different doctors surgery, he wouldn't have anything to hide from in the office.

Angel was just preparing to come into the office in fact, he couldn't sense Cordelia there, but he wanted to be prepared in case the dreams had thrown him off her with all the confusion. He didn't get a chance to go in though, because he suddenly felt some kind of spark shoot through his body – the same which always told him when his seer was around.

Sure enough, with his vamp ears he listened as Cordelia and Gunn came in and started talking to Wesley.

"Yep," Gunn confirmed, "she's knocked up alright. I mean, it's a big enough possibility that one doctor was wrong, but two?"

"It has to be a demon or whatever, Wes. 'Cause what the hell else could it be?" He heard Cordy say.

"We'll nothing I've found so far says that it would be possible to just BECOME pregnant from being in contact with a demon – of any sort."

"What about…," she trailed off.

"What about what, Cordelia? Any ideas would be helpful right now," Wesley encouraged.

"Dreams," she stated simply, and for a second, Angel was sure his heart beat. 'It's just a word she's saying, Angel, that doesn't mean she knows about them…' He managed to calm himself.

"Dreams?" He heard Wesley repeat.

"Is there such a thing as getting pregnant from a dream?" Cordy asked seemingly calmly, but Angel caught the nervousness in her voice.

"Well, not that I know of –" Wesley began.

"Wait a minute," Gunn interrupted, "I might just be the thick one here, but what do you mean pregnant from a DREAM?"

"I'm just asking, HYPOTHETICLY, that if someone where to have dreams of well, sex, then could they get pregnant – or get the female in their dream pregnant."

"Is that possible?" Gunn asked.

"I'll have to research that idea… but there wont be any point unless it's NOT hypothetical?"

"Of course it's hypothetical, Wesley!" She sounded to high pitched to Angel who then presumed that she was lying. "But, you should, y'know, research it anyway 'cause… 'Cause some guy out there could've just seen me the one time and has fallen madly in love with me and is having these dreams and – and eew! – The perv! … Anyway, if it IS possible to get pregnant from a dream then that would be why, right? Some guy impregnated me in dream world… or whatever."

"OK, Cordelia. I'll look into it. In the meantime you should probably go and lie down."

"Wesley, I'm pregnant, but I'm not THAT pregnant at the moment…. And hey! You know what we should do, Gunn?"

"Wha - ?"

"- We should go to that little supermarket down the road, - 'cause me and Angel went there, like, ages ago, and he brought me the most delish sandwich EVER! Of course Mister-I-Don't-Eat-Food-Ever started to order me a cheese, pickle, mayo and banana sandwich, when I wanted a chicken and salad one…"

Her voice got fainter and Angel guessed she was already half way out the door, "Um, maybe I'll try a cheese, pickle, mayo, and banana... what do you think?"

"I think she's THAT pregnant," he heard Gunn whisper to Wesley before his footsteps echoed Cordy's.

Angel had soon gone into the office and sat through Wesley telling him about Cordelia's dream theory.

"Do you think it could happen?" He asked the ex-watcher.

"Well, not that I know of, and the books I've looked in so far haven't – "

"Cordelia, that's gross!"

They both turned and watched as Cordy and Gunn came through the door.

"Is not!" She spat back, taking a bite of her sandwich.

Gunn turned to Wesley and Angel, "do you know what is in that sandwich? – I'll tell you, tuna, banana, tomato, and instead of butter she asked for… wait for it… chocolate spread!"

"Like your sandwich is much better! – He got ham, cheese, lettuce and this gross seafood sauce stuff!" She turned to Gunn, "I'd hate to disappoint you, Gunn, but there's NO SEA FOOD IN IT!"

"So? That doesn't mean I can't have seafood sauce!"

"Ugh! You are sooo annoying!" She turned to Wesley, suddenly beaming, "I got you a sandwich too, Wes!"

She sounded like an excited little kid and seemed very proud of what she had done. Wesley took the sandwich off her suspiciously, "what's in it?"

"Your fave filling of course! Bacon, lettuce and tomato with mayo!"

Angel could definitely see the relief on the guys face, "thanks, Cordelia."

She suddenly turned to Angel, "I would've got you one too, but you don't eat, sooo… I didn't. – And even if you did I wouldn't have gotten you one anyway – 'cause deny it all you want, Broody-boy, but you've been avoiding me!"

Angel could only come up with one thing in his defence, "well you've been avoiding me too!"

"AH-HA! So you admit you HAVE been avoiding me!"

'Uh-Oh, busted!' … "Well, it goes both ways, Cordy! If I'm in a room and you come in you leave as soon as you get the chance too!"

"Yeah, but only if you haven't already rushed out to get away from ME! What have I done that makes you run at the site of me? – It's like you hate me!"

Angel was shocked, "I don't hate you, Cordy."

"Well something's made you not wanna be where I am! It's gotta be something I've done."

"Let me assure you, it's nothing you've done. And I could NEVER hate you, Cordelia." He paused for a second, "and what about the way you run from a room when I enter… do you hate me?"

She shook her head, "of course not. You're my best friend, Angel."

"So what is it that's got you avoiding me?" She flushed a little, "embarrassment."

'Oh, shit! – She's embarrassed because she somehow knows that I've been having these dreams about her… I guess the Powers That Be told her in a vision or something… Or The Host could've told her…'

He didn't get a chance to ask why she was embarrassed, because Wesley - who must've lost interest in the Angel/Cordelia farce had gone back to his book - stood up, "I think I found it!"

"What ya got, English?"

"Oh, no… it's not it at all," he sat back down.

"What?" Gunn asked again.

"This book well, the only way I can describe it is that if someone where to have a sex dream, then the person they were dreaming about could get pregnant – or vice versa – if they were both having these dreams about each other. It's like dream world is in fact another world, and if two people are having such similar dreams about each other – sex or no sex – then to save 'space' in dream world, their dreams would be combined. And two dreams together, would - to a certain extent – cancel each other out, and be a reality within dreaming. This would explain the stories we hear about people having the same dream and then it coming true, as it in fact was made a reality by the people dreaming it because they would be cancelling out each others dreams, making it real."

'If I am pregnant from a dream of me and Angel… and the only way that could happen is if we BOTH dreamed it and cancelled it down to make it real, then…' Her eyes slid over to Angel's.

'I thought it could be just my dream about Cordy that got her pregnant… but for it to be real then we BOTH would have had to have dreamed it… about each other. So…' He looked over at Cordelia to find her staring back at him biting her lower lip and blushing a deep red.

Wesley broke the look they shared, "so unless the hypothetical dreams are real, for both Cordy and whomever she could've hypothetically had with her in her dream, then that's not the case." He looked expectantly at Cordelia.

"So maybe the dreams weren't just a hypothetical discussion," she shrugged, "but I can't be pregnant that way."

"According to this you can."

"But the guy I was dreaming about… well, I know for sure he can't have kids. It's just not possible."

"Infertility or anything else wouldn't matter in a dream world… it's a dream after all."

"But Wesley, as embarrassing as this is for me to admit, it was only ever dreams about sex – and if the two dreams cancelled each other out and became real, how does that make the infertility just go away?"

"The guy is obviously going to make that problem disappear whenever he can, and the only place that can really happen is in a dream… where he can be anything he wants."

"OK, that makes sense… kinda." Suddenly Cordelia looked up alarmed, "what if y'know, the guy I was dreaming about was well, kinda evil after sex… would that be like real too?" She shot Angel a suspicious glance.

Wesley noticed this, and looked between them, "OH… MY… GOD!" He exclaimed, finally all the major clues sinking in.

Gunn slumped in a chair, "I'm being thick guy again… anyone wanna fill me in?" He took a bite of his sandwich.

"It's, it's… Angel," Wesley spluttered, moving away from the vampire.

"Wha' 's?" Gunn asked through his mouthful.

"In Cordelia's dreams!" Gunn spit out his sandwich, "…ugh. – Are you serious?" He looked to Cordelia, "Cordy?"

"OK, so Angel's the guy in my dreams … and how weird did that sound? – But hey! No blaming this all on me 'cause I'm gonna be the one with the lump!" She pointed a finger at Angel accusingly, "he's apart of this too! It takes two to tango, y'know!"

"Cordelia, come here," Wesley ordered, giving Angel a once over.

"What?! – Why?"

"Look, you just practically said yourself – Angel's evil after sex, as in Angelus!" Gunn put in, alarmed.

Cordelia shook her head, "look, I know I just totally gave the game away when I freaked out and remembered that for a sec there, but he's not evil," she took a bite of her sandwich and took a seat next to Angel.

"Cordy, you don't know that!" Gunn said.

"Yeah, I do. Firstly, if he was Angelus we would all have been dead about a month ago – when the dreams first started – and we're not. Second," she reached over and ruffled Angel's hair, "he's too puppy-doggy at the moment to be the big bad."

Angel knocked her hand away, "it took me forever to that this morning!" He complained reaching up to see what damage she had done to his hair. "And I'm not a puppy-dog!"

"He could be playing us along, Cordelia! – You don't know what Angelus is capable of!"

"Wesley, look, working on your infertility theory – which I guess you know isn't exactly INFERTILITY now and more vampire – Angel is what he wants to be in his dreams, right? And we all know how excited Angel got about his shoeshine –"

"- Shansu –" Wesley automatically corrected.

"- Right, whatever. So anyways, in his dreams, at the back of his mind he's like a real guy – a real human guy – right? – With a soul and everything, so no evil Angel. AND no baby vampire. Just a nice normal baby."

She seemed rather pleased with herself, especially for the last part, not that it occurred to her that her baby would be anything but human in the first place.

"A baby," Angel repeated, causing them all to look at him. He focused on Cordelia, "that's what the Host was talking about… the dreams are for a baby and he knew we'd find out soon and then all this about dreams would short itself out. …And oh my God I'm going to be a father."

Gunn looked at Wesley and moved a bit closer, "Angel?" he whispered.

Wesley nodded, "Angel."

Cordelia got up and walked towards them, "I think we need a singy-songy time, 'cause all that Angel just said?" She briefly glanced at Angel who was just sitting there in a daze, "I wanna get it first hand."


	3. Best Friends Again

What Dreams Can Do Part 3 

By Gem

Angel had again, disappeared to his room. But this time Cordy knew it wasn't to avoid her – I mean, he was a vampire and yet he was going to be a father, and since he had wondered off in a kind of daze, and she was positive he hadn't really heard her when she had explained that they were all off to Caritas once night fell. Which boiled down to the fact he'd got caught up in the thought of him being a father.

Cordelia could relate too – hell, she was the mother after all! So maybe she wasn't a vamp who couldn't have kids, but, well, there was something more that had made her disbelieve that she could be pregnant. She hadn't told the guys… it was her little secret because she didn't want their pitty. - When she and Oz had found Willow and Xander… well, y'know, and then she had fell and, well, ouch! Afterwards the doctor said there was a slim chance she wasn't able to have kids… not because of being impaled, although finding out was the result of it. If she hadn't fell like that and landed where she did, she would still have the same problem, just unbeknownst to her of course.

She looked over at Wesley, who was reading futher into his book. Gunn had gone back to his hood for the rest of the day, reassuring them he'd meet them in Caritas once it opened – but she wouldn't put it past him to not turn up altogether. There was a chance Angel would be singing.

"Hey, Wes. I'll be back in a minute, OK? I just wanna see if Angel's alright. It was quite a shock, I think," she stood up and headed away.

"You think?" She heard him call after her, "well, I KNOW."

'THAT was defiantly a knock," Angel told himself, he'd been so deep in thought he just about caught what he thought was someone knocking, but hadn't been too sure until it sounded again.

"Angel? It's Cordy. Can I come in?"

"Yeah! Come in!" He called back, and listened to the door creak open as he took a seat on his bed.

She came and sat beside him, they didn't look at each other but both faced forwards instead.

They sat in silence for awhile, thinking.

"Y'know, I don't know whether I should be more embarrassed than before or less embarrassed," she spoke up, and followed it with a sigh. "I mean, it's a comfort to know that it wasn't just me being the one embarrassed this past month or so, but then, I think about what YOU were obviously acting strange about, and the blush just creeps right back on up there."

"Did you know, I was so sure that the reason YOU were avoiding me was because I thought you somehow knew what I was dreaming about?" He shrugged, "I just guessed that you'd had a vision of the PTB had found some other way to tell you."

She let out a little laugh, "no kidding! I thought YOU had somehow picked up on why I was acting strange when you started avoiding me! – I assumed it was because every time I saw you… well it was the strangest thing, every time I knew I'd be seeing you, I'd tell myself it'd be fine and I'd be all prepared and everything and then WHAM! All I can see is flashes of the dreams and I just wanted to die. And I just thought you – being a vampire and all – could probably tell my heart beat was getting faster and that I was all flustered and couldn't get my words out, and I guess I just thought 'he doesn't have to be a genius to work out why… just a vampire'."

He looked to his feet, "so how are we going to play this?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, the dreams in the first place were obviously planted or whatever by the PTB… so there must be a plan, right? Maybe they want us to have a kid 'cause a warrior and a seers kid holds some great power or something… I just wished they'd told us the plan!"

Angel flopped back on the bed, 'she thinks it was the PTB's doing?… But The Host said it was all me… does that apply to Cordy too? Or is this thing just one way?' His mind raced, 'if her side of things wasn't to do with the PTB then she'd feel something for me, which she obviously doesn't or she'd be NOT taking about them right now.' His heart sunk.

He looked at her. She was looking over at him concerned, "everything OK, Angel?"

He pulled himself back up, "yeah, I was just thinking… 'bout the PTB... and why they gave us these dreams,… and in turn, the possibility of a baby."

Cordy bit her bottom lip, 'damn! I was right! He DOES think this is all 'cause of the PTB! Ugh! I would sooo LOVE to punch them in the nose!'

She pulled herself together, "so, you asked how we should play this… and I guess, after we talk to The Host later we'll be able to discuss that more, that is, if he has anything more to tell us than what he already told you."

"He defiantly knows more. He just said that he'd let us when we need to know… I'm not sure if that's now, or later when there is a baby to look at."

"Well, if it is later, then for now, I say we play this as we would any normal two people having a kid together that aren't together."

Angel gave her quizzical look, "and how's that?"

"Um… I guess you'll be the dad and I'll be the mom, except we won't be married – but when I say dad and mom separate like that, I don't mean we should be like a separated couple or act like we've been through a divorce – no hostility whatsoever. …I guess we'll be as we are now. Best friends, and parents to our kid. It's that simple."

'Simple? What am I saying? It's bloody complicated.. well, I guess that's mostly because we'll have a kid and be it's parents, but we'll just be best friends – when I want to be more than that – like proper married parents who are having a kid!' she whined.

'Great. Simple. - NOT GREAT AT ALL! Parents to the same kid and I'm supposed to still just be her best friend while she acts all motherly and I have to do the father gig… um, maybe I can work the traditional line and ask her to marry me and say it's 'cause I wouldn't feel right if the mother of my kid gave birth without me doing the right thing and creating a proper family home for… - would she even buy it? … I'll ask … later… maybe.'

"OK, that's how we'll play it… unless the PTB has something else in mind."

She nodded, "…so, um, just so I'm clear on this, were back to normal, right? And I think it would be for the best if maybe we forget the whole being embarrassed thing, I mean, it's not like it was down to us! It was purely the PTB!"

'At least for you, anyway,' Angel added in his head.

'…but I wish it wasn't,' Cordy added to herself, not knowing any better because she hadn't heard The Host the night before.

Angel nodded, "I'm fine on both those accounts."

She smiled, "good, me too. … So, I guess I better get back upstairs, I only told Wesley I'd be a minute."

She was halfway out when; "hold up, Cordy," she turned back to see him grinning at her as he too got up, "I'll come too, after all, we got rid of the embarrassment so I guess that mean's avoiding each other's gone out the window too, huh?"

She grinned back.


	4. Singing

What Dreams Can Do Part 4 

By Gem

"Please, tell me you're kidding!" Cordelia pleaded and gave The Host a small smile in hope.

"Sorry, toots. I just told you all I know. If that's not enough then he's gonna have to sing."

She made a face, "what about me, huh? I know I'm not great, but I'm better than him! – And I mean, since this is about me too you should get the same info from both of us, right? What's the difference if I sing instead, - except you wont lose nearly as many customers!"

"Ah, see when I said he'd have to sing, I kinda forgot to mention the part where you sing too."

"What!? Why!?"

"If I just hear Angel sing, I'll only get the plan for him, and your asking to know about the baby, right?"

Angel nodded, "well the baby's apart of each of you."

"So… what'd we sing?" Angel asked nervously.

"Whatever you want, Angelcakes. You can sing together or both pick a song, it doesn't really matter."

"Angel wants to go first!" Cordy said immediately.

"What? No I don't!" He was just as quick to protest.

"Oh, go on, Angel! After YOU belting out a song whatever I chose and no matter how badly I do it they'll LOVE me!"

"Cordy, there is no way I'm singing at ALL."

'It's a good job I'm better at guilting Angel than I am acting, 'cause this is a bit of both!' She thought as she quickly set a plan up into action. She cocked her head to the side and gave him a sad look, desperately wanting to cheer out as he did exactly what she wanted him to do… his eyes watched as her hand rested on her belly, "please, Angel. For the baby? We need to know what's going to happen to it."

The vampire sighed, "I'll compromise with you, Cordy."

Her eyebrows raised hopefully, "go on…"

"We'll sing together."

"I guess that's better than nothing," she shrugged. "What you wanna sing?" She asked, taking his arm and leading him towards the stage.

Wesley felt someone tap his arm as he watched them go, and he turned around to see that Gunn had arrived.

"English, please tell me Angel isn't –"

"- Oh it's worse than that. They're going to sing TOGETHER."

Gunn made a face, "I need a drink. Fast."

The Host wondered over to the Warrior and Seer to see if they had actually picked a song yet.

"No way am I singing that!" He heard Cordelia whine.

"I take it you two haven't agreed on one yet?"

"As if." He laughed as Cordelia gave the vampire an evil look, and he practically growled back at her. They weren't really having a fall out, Lorne could tell, they were just bantering with each other because for some reason they liked to get each other all fired up. Their auras said it all.

The Host shrugged, "then why don't you just sing two different songs."

"Because we made a compromise. Both together or just Cordelia, and apparently, we both have to sing." Angel reminded him, with a death glare.

"Why don't you just get both your cute little butts on the stage and sing something I choose?" He reasoned, and got two glares.

Angel was just shaking his head no.

"Nuh-uh. I don't think so. Anything YOU choose either I won't know or Angel won't – that's why we're having a hard time finding a song. What I know, he doesn't. And what he DOES know – it's really, really old."

"You don't really need to KNOW it – the words come up on screen you fools!" He KNEW that was a growl, and Cordelia didn't look pleased, "… But if I can guarantee you'll both know it?"

"What is it?" They chorused together.

The Host just smiled, "get up on the stage and you'll find out."

Angel looked to see what Cordelia thought of the idea, she shrugged back at him, "I'm game if you are?"

He couldn't back down from something that a young human girl wasn't afraid of doing now, could he? "I'm game."

Wesley and Gunn looked up in interest once they saw their two friends get on the stage.

"Maybe they'll drown each other out," Wes said flatly.

"You wish." Cordy and Angel both had grabbed mics as the song started.

It was the strangest sensation Cordy had ever felt. The whole room of people seemed to swallow up and then she just opened her mouth to ask what was going on as Angel's bedroom appeared in front of her. The vampire himself sitting on the bed looking at something past her. None of the questions that she wanted to ask came out. But she found herself singing.

She had heard the song before, but somehow the words just slipped out of her mouth like she knew it by heart.

Cordy: Tonight I celebrate my love for you.

Her voice didn't sound like her own, - not the one everyone hated to hear anyway. She sounded like a GOOD singer.

She watched as another version of herself came in the room and walked to Angel, who took her hand.

And then Cordelia realised, she was watching one of her dreams.

Cordy: It seems the natural thing to do.

Another voice started to sing, a deeper, male's voice. It sounded nothing like the normal way her best friend could sing, but she knew it was him.

Wesley nearly spit out his drink as Cordelia opened her mouth and began to sing.

He turned to Gunn – "do I need new glasses, or is that Cordelia singing?" He asked, mesmerised by her voice.

"It looks like Cordy, but it can't be her… can it?"

Then Angel started to sing.

"What do they put in the beer here?" Gunn asked, looking down at his drink.

Angel had been very surprised when he heard his seers voice and he looked to her to see if she actually was the one singing, but she wasn't there, well, not the one singing at least, though he somehow knew it was her voice, he watched as 'she' moved toward –the bed? Which he was on?

He watched as he held out a hand to her.

Angel frowned, and wondered what the hell was going on. He opened his mouth to ask, and found himself singing, automatically knowing the right words.

Angel: Tonight, no one's gonna find us.

He watched intently as himself pulled Cordelia close to him, and began to kiss her tenderly.

Angel: We'll leave the world behind us.

And then it hit him, as he watched Cordelia break the kiss and touch 'his' face gently, this was one of his dreams.

Cordy & Angel: When I make love to you.

They both carried on singing their respective parts, watching as their dream versions gently made love.

Cordy: Tonight, I celebrate my love for you.

For no particular reason as she sang, Cordelia found her cheeks wet with her tears, she wasn't at all sure why. But that this was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. She and the man she loved were together… this was different from the dreams, it was more real because the words she was singing fitted it completely, and Angel's voice sang along with her, echoing her love.

Cordy: And hope, that deep inside you feel it too.

Angel: Tonight, our spirits will be climbing, 'til the sky lights up with diamonds.

Angel had never felt something like this before – although it was exactly like the dreams, never had it been so clear, to see all the emotion – all the love – that he was sharing with his best friend.

The words too, added, as they WERE his feeling's exactly, and hearing Cordelia's voice singing out what she felt too from the heart was so much emotion that out of nowhere he felt tears slide down his face.

Cordy & Angel: When I make love to you, tonight.

Cordy & Angel: Tonight, I celebrate my love for you, And that midnight sun, is gonna come shining through.

Angel: Tonight, there'll be no distance between us.

Cordy: What I want most to do, is to get close to you. Tonight.

Cordy: Tonight, I celebrate my love for you, And soon, this whole world will seem brand new.

Angel: Tonight, we will both discover, how friends turn into lovers.

Cordy & Angel: When I make love to you, Tonight, I celebrate my love for you, And that midnight sun, is gonna come shining through.

Angel: Tonight, there'll be no distance between us.

Cordy: What I want most to do, is to get close to you.

Cordy & Angel: Tonight, I celebrate my love for you, Tonight.

The music slowly came to a halt, and Cordelia had to blink twice when the cheering audience seemed to just fade back in.

She quickly reached up to wipe away her tears, and as she did so she looked to her right – where Angel was. He too was quickly trying to hide the fact he had been crying.

Then he looked at her, and she knew he had seen it all too.

She pulled herself out of his eyes when The Host tugged the mic off her, "weren't they brilliant?" He asked, and in response the crowd cheered even louder.

"Now can everyone see what happens when you TRULY sing from the heart, huh? No matter WHAT you usually sound like, if it comes from the heart you become the best singer in the world!" He paused for a second, looking at the two very embarrassed people that were still on stage behind him, "next up is Brittany Spears' look-a-like singing Hit Me Baby One More Time!" He handed the mic to a female yellow-greenish colored demon with black eyes and reddish tinted hair as he ushered Angel and Cordy off the stage.

"You two follow me around the back," He ordered, and surprisingly Angel came without asking any questions. "Take a seat…." They did, "so you wanna know about your baby? Well, it's gonna be born, loved and with you two around no harm will come to it."

Cordelia frowned, pushing all questions she had about what just happened to the side for the moment, "but then why'd the Powers give us a kid if it's not for some greater purpose?"

The Host looked to Angel, "you didn't tell her?"

"Well you weren't very clear!" Angel complained, "I didn't know by what you said whether it was just me as you put it, and that Cordy's side of things WAS the Powers!"

"It's the both of you," The Host confirmed with a smile.

"HUH?" Was all the very confused Cordy could manage.

"You sure?" Angel asked The Host, a smile toying with his lips.

Lorne nodded. Angel turned to his seer, "Cordy, about the whole PTB business before with the dreams?"

She nodded, encouraging him to get on with it. He grinned, the biggest, toothy, completely genuine smile she had ever seen on him, "Angel?" She asked, nervously.

His hand reached out and cupped her face, shaking his head, "they've got nothing to do with 'em." He so desperately wanted to kiss her, but before he could he had to make sure she understood what he was saying.

"You mean…?"

"I mean I've had the dreams because I've completely fallen for you, the Powers That Be had nothing to do with them… And they didn't for you either. – Whether you realise it or not, Cordy, those dreams were all you. You may not have been conscious of the fact it was YOU and only you who brought me into them and did what we did in them… You may not realise how you feel for me but –"

Her finger stopped him saying anymore, she grinned, "Would you shut up and kiss me?"

He cocked his head to the side, "sooo you realise how you feel about me?"

"Which bit did you not understand? Shut up or kiss me?"

"I just – " he started, but he didn't get to finish, because SHE kissed HIM.


End file.
